January 14, 2012

In class yesterday you said you believed that if one book could change the world, it would be “The White Hotel” by D. M. Thomas. Like we said later, one book can start a change in the reader. I wrote this poem in response.

One book can’t change the world.

One book can start a conversation

with questions. The answers

don’t really mean as much—

as long as the question is asked.

One book can show lessons,

how to deal with situations,

let the reader live beyond

one life trapped in one body.

One book can be a friend

in times of trouble, be stained

with coffee and worn from multiple

readings of the story inside.

One book can tell a story

that lives in the reader,

a story that lives, survives time

and dusty, moldy shelves.

One book can lead to leaders

going to the big city creating

new books, history, as society

follows their staff of wisdom.

One book can lead a thirsty

horse to water—some drink

while others gulp like lost

desert travelers finally home safe.

One book can travel across

time and space before landing

back in the modern world

ready to flow with internet’s tide.

One book can love the reader’s

gentle fingers turning pages,

quick notes in the margins, post-its

marking favorite passages.

One book can start an avalanche

of ideas, more books to read,

start the journey of miles

with an open path ready.

One book can make a difference,

and one book is all it takes

to inspire a generation, share

writer’s dreams in stories.

One book can be the vehicle

for the story to travel the world.

it will never be the same when

one book is added to libraries.

One book can change the world.

I’m not sure if you’ve read “Room” by Emma Donoghue, but of the books I’ve read so far, I think the world should read this one. After I read “The White Hotel,” then we’ll see if I still think the same of “Room.”